Department of Athletics announces Hall of Fame Class of 2018

Nov 14, 2017

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College Department of Athletics is proud to announce its seven-member Hall of Fame Class of 2018. The seven inductees, chosen by the Hall of Fame committee, will be honored at an induction ceremony and banquet scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Additional information regarding the event will be released in the coming weeks.

Established in 1980, the Saint Anselm College Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators that have brought recognition to themselves and the College through their efforts on and off the playing surface. The Hall of Fame was revived in 2017 where the Class of 2007 was finally inducted along with two additional candidates.

"Only the second class of inductees since 2007, the committee produced seven distinguished alumni that we are thrilled to enshrine in our growing Hall of Fame," remarked Director of Athletics Daron Montgomery. "These seven Saint Anselm graduates have set a high standard for our current student-athletes to follow. We are excited to celebrate and formally recognize their achievements in January."

Jason Karalexis '00, the 1999 Saint Anselm Male Athlete of the year, was a key part of Head Coach Ed Cannon's back-to-back Northeast-10 Conference championship squads in 1998 and 1999. The conference's 1997 Defensive Player of the Year award winner, Karalexis was a three-time First Team All-Conference selection (1997, 1998, 1999) and served as a team captain in 1999.

The second NSCAA All-America selection in program history, Karalexis ranks second all-time in career games played (80) and fourth all-time in career assists with 25. As a senior, Karalexis racked up 10 goals and 14 assists for 34 points (10-14=34), the eighth-most in a single season to date. The 14 helpers stand today as the all-time single season record.

Karalexis began his career with Second Team All-Conference honors in 1996, helping the Hawks to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, its first appearance in seven seasons. The recipient of the 1999-00 Thomas A. Melucci Jr. Memorial Scholarship, Karalexis was a two-time All-New England First Teamer and represented Saint Anselm in the 2000 NEISL Division I/II All-Star Game.

Cindy (Lebel) Tipping '08 was a member of the inaugural varsity women's ice hockey team at Saint Anselm and helped the squad post a dominant 88-15-2 overall record a cross a four-year career. A key member of the Saint Anselm defense, she helped the Hawks to post a combined 66-2 overall record when leading after one period. The combined defense during her tenure allowed just over 1.12 goals per game, regularly ranking among the nation's leaders in scoring defense.

Offensively, Lebel ranks 10th all-time with 90 career points, pouring home 11 career game-winning goals. Ranking fifth all-time in power play goals (15), Lebel also contributed four shorthanded goals which stands as the second-most in a career. Despite playing as a defenseman, Lebel was the first of six Saint Anselm skaters to score four goals in a game, doing so versus Salve Regina on Feb. 21, 2006. She also posted a career-high 38 points in 2005-06, the sixth-most ever in a single campaign.

One of the most decorated women's ice hockey players to date, she remains the only First Team All-America selection in team history. Earning Second Team All-America honors in 2006-07 and 2007-08, Lebel also captured ECAC East Player of the Year plaudits in 2005-06 and was named All-ECAC in back-to-back season (2006-07, 2007-08).

Todd Manuel '02 was a three-year member of the Saint Anselm men's basketball team and a member of the exclusive 1,000 career point club. Tallying 1,630 points in three years at Saint Anselm, Manuel was a two-time Northeast-10 First Team All-Conference selection and was twice named to the NABC First Team All-Northeast Region squad.

To date, Manuel ranks fourth all-time with 18.1 points per game (min. 50 games played) and stands as the most proficient free throw shooter in program history, converting 88.2% of his shots from the charity stripe. Holder of the top two single-season free throw percentages in school history (2000-01, 2001-02), he also scored the most-ever points by a single player in one game, pouring home 52 against Bentley on Jan. 3, 2002.

Manuel was also a key factor in the Hawks NCAA Division II Tournament run in 2000, earning Most Valuable Player honors and All-Tournament Team placement after helping the team make its first-ever appearance in the Elite Eight National Quarterfinal. He also earned Daktronics First Team All-Northeast Region and was a two-time All-ECAC Division II All-Star.

John O'Connell '96 posted 1,329 career points for the Hawks over a four-year career and ranks fifth all-time with a .741 free throw percentage. A proficient rebounder, O'Connell reeled in 783 career caroms, a mark that stands as the seventh-most in program history. He was also durable and a key weapon for Head Coach Keith Dickson, appearing in 117 career games.

A First Team All-Conference selection in 1995-96, O'Connell remains his team's lone NE10 Defensive Player of the Year award winner in program history. That same season, O'Connell earned NABC All-New England and Daktronics East All-Region Second Team selection and stands as one of only six student-athletes in team history to earn All-ECAC recognition in multiple seasons (1994-95, 1995-96).

A two-time team captain, O'Connell played on teams that combined for a 92-29 overall record, including the 1995-96 squad that finished the year with a 28-3 overall record. That season, the Hawks posted its only unblemished conference record (16-0) in program history to date.

Geoff Raby '02 was a member of the first-ever modern day football team at Saint Anselm, playing in the first exhibition tilt on Sept. 11, 1998 versus Brown. Serving as a team captain, Raby earned First Team All-Conference honors in 2000 and picked up Second Team All-Conference merits in 2001 and 2002. He also earned All-America Honorable Mention honors by Hanson's Gazette during his tenure on the Hilltop.

In Northeast-10 Conference history, Raby ranks 13th all-time with 313 total tackles and his 61 tackles in 1999 stand today as the third-most in modern day program history. Second all-time in career assisted tackles (139), he is one of only two players to reach 19 tackles in a game, doing so against Mass.-Lowell on Sept. 8, 2001.

Raby fell only three games shy of the all-time program record, playing in 39 consecutive varsity games from 1999 to 2002. He was responsible for the first three 15-tackle games in team history and currently is tied for the team record with 11 forced fumbles.

Jocelyn (Savastano) Aguilar '07, a two-sport athlete for Saint Anselm, stands today as the all-time leader in career goal scoring (82), assists (29), points (193) and game-winning goals (17) for the women's soccer team. Leading all of NCAA Division II in points per game (3.53) and goals per game (1.53) in 2005, Savastano helped her team to 33 victories across a four-year career, scoring the game-winning goal against UMass Lowell in the NE10 Quarterfinals in 2006, her squad's first win in the conference tournament since the 1993 season.

One of only 25 student-athletes in NCAA Division II history with more than 190 career points scored, her 1.26 goals per game stands as the 15th best in team history. She possesses the top three single-season goal scoring performances (26, 2005; 23, 2004; 22, 2006) and point scoring performances (60, 2005; 53, 2006; 51, 2004) in team history and holds the record for goals scored in one game (7) and points scored in one game 14, both taking place against New England College on Sept. 1, 2004.

The two-time team captain is the only player in program history to score more than three goals in one game, doing so eight separate times and is only the second student-athlete in team history to lead her team in goal and point scoring across four separate seasons. A two-time All Northeast-10 First Team selection, Savastano earned Second and Third Team All-Conference as well and was a two-time NSCAA First Team All-Region honoree. She was recognized as the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the year in 2006.

Savastano also played one season of softball for the Hawks, one of only two student-athletes on the squad to start all 39 games while batting .265 with a team-leading eight stolen bases.

Ranked ninth all-time in career point scoring, Kathleen Shippee '95 handed out 636 assists across a distinguished four-year career, setting the program record while also averaging 11.3 points per game. Her .832 free throw percentage stands as the fourth-best career mark in team history and her 218 steals are the seventh-most ever recorded by a Hawks player.

A two-time team captain, Shippee helped the Hawks to a four-year total of 76 victories that included one Northeast-10 Conference finals appearance and two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. She captured Northeast-10 and ECAC Division II North Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman in 1992 and went on to win First Team All-Conference honors as a senior.

With 190 assists in 1992-93, she posted the second-most helpers in a single season and went on to hold three of the top five single-season assist totals to date. Until 2017, Shippee held the single-game program record for assists, handing out 13 against Springfield on Feb. 12, 1994 – she also dished out 11 assists on two separate occasions, doing so only four games apart to open the 1993-94 campaign.

A complete list of Saint Anselm College Hall of Famers can be found here.